Lender gets project title - USATODAY.com

The Arizona Supreme Court has refused to reconsider its decision that awarded ownership of Elevation Chandler to the investors of Point Center Financial, the project's lender.

Now the title is clear and the property, on the southern edge of Chandler Fashion Center, can be sold.

The Supreme Court denied the request to reconsider from Phoenix foreclosure speculator Tom Peltier, a principal in BT Capital. The justices denied the request without comment less than a week after the request was filed.

Peltier's new lawyer, Isabel Humphrey, did not return phone calls from The Republic.
The court on May 4 ordered BT Capital to pay attorney's fees incurred by California-based Point Center, $247,555. Those costs were incurred in handling the case at the state Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.

A three-year battle was waged over who owns the 10.5-acre abandoned construction site near Loops 101 and 202.

Peltier had claimed he won the property when he bid $1,000,001 in a botched trustee's sale June 15, 2009.

That sale and two other trustee's sales were held by TD Service Company.

In its May 4 opinion, the Supreme Court said deeds of trust are governed by state statute, not contract law, as Peltier had argued, said Roger Cohen, attorney for TD Service.

The court said one key was the third sale, on July 1, 2010.

Construction on the partially built hotel stopped in April 2006. The original developer, Jeff Cline of Scottsdale, filed for bankruptcy protection in April 2008. A judge later dismissed the case as a failed bankruptcy.

By Luci Scott, The Republic|azcentral.com Jun 9, 2012

Lender gets project title - USATODAY.com